From Uche Uche, Damaturu
As the rainy season sets in, many concerned residents in Yobe state are expressing fear of diseases associated with water, such as cholera, gastro-enteritis, and diarrhea, which affected no fewer than 690 people, with 33 recorded deaths in the month of August, 2011 in areas such as Potiskum, Fika, Gulani and Gujba.
Speaking to our reporter in his office in Damaturu, the General Manager, Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASA), Yobe state, Mohammed Bukar said the state government, through the ministry of health, in collaboration with RUWASA, ministry of water resources and the African Development Bank has contained the occurrence of Diarrhea in the state.
He said such water related diseases are caused by run-off waters carrying human wastes and chemicals from fertilizers that farmers apply to their crops in their farms, depositing such in ponds especially along the roads and inside the bushes, adding that some people are fond of using such contaminated water for their domestic uses.
He said the government is doing everything possible to sensitize people on the dangers of open defecation and the use of unsafe waters gathered from ponds because they contain impurities and contaminants that causes diarrhea and other related water borne diseases.
Bukar, therefore, called on the state ministry of water resources to put into force the existing enabling laws in the provision of water facilities so that anybody who wants drill boreholes follow the guidelines in the laws to secure the safety of the people against contaminated water and water sources in the communities.
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